A weapon in the form of a large robot with a big
appetite for metal falls to Earth from outer
space.

Without the gun part, this movie would play so
much like every other alien-falls-to-Earth story
we've seen, that one could hardly get too excited
about it. Child finds alien, teaches alien to speak,
hides alien from government that wants to kill it ...
you know the rest. There's even a super cliche,
slightly slanted scene where the robot learns to
appreciate nature by connecting with a deer in the
woods.

But, "Iron Giant" is a gun and he's got a
pertinent choice to make. When the army comes to blow
him away, will he fight back with all his alien
might? No one would blame him ... he'd certainly have
the right to defend himself. Or would he consider all
he had just learned about the magic of life and
decide to use his power in some more "humanitarian"
(though metallic) kind of way?

This is an important concept to have set before
our kids (and a good reminder for us, too): 1) You
are powerful. 2) You can use that power destructively
or constructively. 3) Which are you going to
choose?

Of course, the slant of this particular picture is
the more selfless choice. In fact, less than subtle
messages like: "If you're good you have a soul" and
"It's not bad to die, but it's bad to kill" and
"Souls don't die" and "Guns kill" are the nuts and
bolts of the story.

The animation is more in the old style which
befits this 1950's tale. The giant itself is
charming. The voice talent hit their marks, Harry
Connick Jr. standing out as the most interesting,
while a fair Tim Allen sound-a-like speaks for the
ornery FBI agent hassling our Iron Giant's small
friend.

Despite the fact that "Iron Giant" is more of a
relationship (child buddy) film than an animated
action flick, kids will absolutely love it and
they'll be going home chewing on a valuable chunk of
"heavy mental" of their own.